Authoress' Note:

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. It really didn't want to be written and I ended up taking off a few things that will have to wait until next one. I want to believe the reason is me trying something different with the narration, but who knows what might be really...

I still see too much dialog… D:
Oh, well! Thanks everyone for your constant feedback and amazing support! It makes me happy to see you are enjoying the reading!

I normally reply reviews through PMs (unless there is something important to point out) to keep the author notes small, so if you would like me to do so, please make sure to have it available. :D

Chapter 3 'Missing Friends and Meeting New Ones'

The consecutive explosions and the occasional fleeing Pokémon made it easy for Kiawe's Charizard to find the way to their friends' location. In no time, they sighted a dense cloud of dust rising way above the trees. It was there.

"Let's go down there, Charizard."

His Pokémon roared in agreement but, before they could reach the clearing, something else rose from beneath. Three airships of high technology were making their ascension, ready to leave. Kiawe had never seen anything like it. He was no tech expert but even he could tell this technology surpassed anything Sophocles had attempted to create before.

"Kiawe!"

Hearing the call, he turned his attention to one of the ships and froze in place. Inside it, right before the sliding door sealed up, he managed to identify Mallow looking at him almost pleadingly, kneeling right beside a seemingly unconscious Ash; their Pokémon nowhere to be seen.

"Guys!" adrenaline at full, he attempted to give chase, even as the airships continued gaining distances. He gritted his teeth in apprehension, not taking his eyes from the progressively smaller ships, and soon, he was forced to desist when he lost sight of them. He growled in frustration. It was hard to admit it, but he knew Charizard's speed was nothing against those airships' turbines.

.:oOo:.

Within the forest, Rotom had guided Kukui to the clearing where he had last seen his trainer, only to find the area deserted and battered.

"Oh, no…" following Kukui's sight, he saw it wasn't as desolated as he initially thought.

"It's Tapu Koko, btzz!"

They hurried over to the barely conscious Guardian Pokémon. It didn't seem to be too injured but Kukui was fast to notice signs of poisoning. Knowing what he had to do, he searched through his belongings for what he needed.

Rotom took the chance to scan the area, hoping to find anyone else, but he looked considerably more depressed once done.

"There are no signs of any lifeform beside us in a radius of a hundred meters, btzz."

Kukui frowned at the information, but decided not to comment. A few minutes later, the sound of flapping wings got their attention overhead, where Kiawe and his Charizard were descending next to them.

"Tapu koko?" Kiawe asked in surprise.

Kukui nodded. "There are traces of battle all over the place. It seems he tried to help, but…"

Kiawe's worries were incremented by this. His friends were just kidnaped by a bunch of weird people who seemingly were powerful enough to defeat the guardian of the island.

"Did you find them? Are they…?" Kukui left the question hanging hoping to be wrong in his assumption.

Kiawe clenched his teeth before answering. "They… were taken by whoever those people were… I tried to follow, but they were too fast."

Hearing this, Tapu Koko made an attempt to get up, but failed.

"Don't overdo it. You need to rest," Kukui ordered severely before offering it a berry. "Here, this should take care of the poison."

As Professor Kukui kept tending to Tapu Koko, Kiawe got lost in thought. He was at loss of what to do. He had never seen those people in his life, nor had he ever heard anything about such a group.

"How are we supposed to find them now?" he finally voiced his question.

"Rotom managed to take a picture of that group," Kukui mention. "It's not much, but it's a clue. Let's investigate who these people are. Maybe we'll find where they took them."

.:oOo:.

"What did the brat got himself into this time?"

For anyone who would look, they were just a group of grunts being on guard duty right in front of the cells' doorway. Not even their supposed squad leader suspected of their infiltration. Of course, that wasn't anything surprising to them. After all, they considered themselves to be masters of disguise, as they had proven to be countless times. That, combined with a bit of luck, had created a golden opportunity to mess with Team Flare's plans.

"Whatever it is, it's clear these people need him, so if we release the twerp…"

"Then it's like we are ruining their whole operation."

With equal mischievous grins, they waited patiently for the right time to act...

.:oOo:.

How did they end up like this? As Mallow tried to remember the events that had just transpired, she noticed worriedly how any recollection of it came out blurred and in flashes. This people had just taken them into one of their airships and thrown them in separate cells; their Pokémon being retained in some kind of crystal containers on the farthest wall.

'At least we are still somehow together…' Mallow thought as she looked across the room, where a cell identical to the one she was currently occupying, kept her friend out of reach. She glowered. It had been a while since they were drag there by uniformed men and Ash had yet to wake up, which was starting to worry her.

A sigh coming from the crystal containers got her attention, and she finally noticed they weren't the only ones in the room. She blinked at the oddity of having a Slowking for a cellmate, wondering how it could be of any use to these people. Then reconsidered her thoughts when realizing she had been wondering the same thing about herself and her classmate.

It was clear they had some kind of business with Ash, and they had probably taken her along to stop her from alerting anyone. But that didn't explain what they wanted. The uncertainty was unnerving.

"W-what's going to happen to us?" she wondered out loud.

"Am I correct to assume you're one of the Chosen one's friends ?" a voice asked, starting her. Turning around toward the voice, she only saw the Slowking. "I'm afraid I don't know why they brought you." Mallow stared. The voice had definitely come from the Slowking… So was it like Meowth? She then realized she hadn't been paying attention and blushed thinking about apologizing, but the Slowking continued before she could. "As for him… they have discovered his ability with Aura. That's what they want."

"A-Aura?"

The Slowking made to say something more, but a soft groan coming from the cell on his opposite side made him stop and turn.

Perking up from her kneeling position, Mallow approached as much as the bars allowed her and called Ash's name. Receiving a groan in response was as relieving as if he had just lucidly answered back. When he started trying to sit up, she tried again.

"Ash, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" he answered weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ugh… why does my neck hurt?"

He seemed confused and pretty out of it, but he was nevertheless conscious. Mallow immediately released the air she had been holding and gave him a small smile.

"Do… do you remember what happened?"

Ash made a pause to register the question and then another to try and recall what he had been doing before now… whatever the now was. Then it all came back in a rush. He started in sudden realization and looked around wildly, before scowling in both worry and frustration. He had let his guard down again… he had been so focus on Tapu Koko's health that he had given the bad guys the opportunity to strike… and now they had been captured by them… how could he'd been so careless?

"Are you feeling sick?" Mallow's question pulled him out of his gloom thoughts and he shook his head as if to clear it.

There was no time to dwell in self-reproach. Right now he had to focus on more important things, like how to get out of there.

"Sorry, I'm fine."

With another quick look around he finally noticed the capsule containers. Bounsweet looked scared but unharmed. Pikachu was a different story. He was full of dirt and injuries, and seemed to have fallen into a restless sleep. Ash stood in a rush and ran forward, grabbing the cell's bars for support.

"Pikachu! Are you okay, buddy?!" the sudden movement had gotten him dizzy; black dots filling his vision for a second; and he staggered in place.

"Wait, Ash! Don't stand so suddenly!"

He listened for once and slide back down to a sitting position.

"You should not worry. Pikachu is just tired. He should wake up pretty soon."

"..." he stared. "Ah! It's you!"

"It is nice to see you again, Ash," the Slowking nodded. "Though, I would have preferred it to be in different circumstances."

"You know each other?"

"Why yes. Back when the planet was suffering a weather catastrophe, he helped Lugia save the world by doing his role as the chosen of a prophecy."

"For real? That sounds amazing, Ash!" Mallow's said excitedly. "I didn't know you saved the world once!"

"I- yeah…" he replied in embarrassment. "But I didn't do much, really. It was a collective effort from all my friends."

"It's true that your Pokémon help you to fulfill your role, but you must not forget you are still the Chosen one."

"B-But that is solved now, right? You can stop calling me that."

"The title still holds true, for as long as the legend exist," the Slowking explained patiently. "It is written that you will be the one to stop any calamity that may befall this Earth."

"A-Any?"

"Ash will?"

"Well, of course! It is Ash's name the one written in the prophecy. And I'm sure you have been doing a splendid job so far, if the news coming from migrating Pokémon are anything to go by."

Mallow was bewildered and a bit excited. By the way this Slowking was talking about him, it seemed like Ash was a very important person. She wondered what other things he had done in the past to gain the talking Pokémon's trust.

"Amazing!"

"I'm really nothing special…" Ash responded weakly. He was progressively looking more uncomfortable as the Slowking continued, but by then he let out a sigh of resignation and whispered. "I'm still wondering why my mom didn't name me something else…"

Mallow blinked. She couldn't quite understand, but she somehow felt sympathy seeing his dejected look.

"So… you've been chosen by a prophecy that has your name written on it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Ash deadpanned.

"Then, I wonder... What would happen if you change your name?"

It was Ash's turn to blink. "Oh… I never thought of that."

"Don't you ever consider it!" Both kids flinched at the outburst. "The fate of the planet is not something to play with!"

"I-I won't! I promise!" the Slowking looked so alarmed, Ash honestly panicked.

"Sorry! I didn't mean any harm by that!" Mallow too looked repentant.

The moment the Slowking huffed and nodded seemingly satisfied, the children deflated and sighed in relief.

.:oOo:.

"So you are from Kalos?"

"That's right," Serena smiled kindly. She had just explained to them how she and Ash knew each other.

"That's so far away…" Lana commented getting lost in thought.

"I read about the Kalos Region once," Lillie commented. "Kalos is known for its vast artistic culture, and their colorful showcases using fashionable designs."

Serena nodded in confirmation. "That is actually why I'm here right now," she explained. "You see, I am a performer myself. We are on a tour to promote showcases to other regions."

"Wow! I would like to see one of those," Lana said excitedly.

"Then why not come together?" Serena suggested. Getting confused looks, she elaborated. "I was hoping to find Ash so I could say hi and then invite him to the showcase for old time's sake. And since you all are friends with him, I thought it would be a lot more fun that way."

"That does sound like a great idea," Lillie agreed. "Right, Sophocles?"

The smaller boy flinched at hearing his name and nodded. He had been weirdly silent since Serena joined them on their walk to Professor Kukui's house. Lillie understood. It might not have look like it, but he was a shy person by nature, so despite her kindness, the honey blonde's presence was overwhelming his ability to speak. She smiled in amusement, and didn't push it. Boy would be boys, she thought.

.:oOo:.

Right on their destination a few minutes away, Kukui had just entered the house with Rotom-Dex and Tapu Koko following close behind; Kiawe being last after dismounting Charizard. Never in his life had he imagine himself in such a bizarre scene.

Rockruff's barking didn't let him dwell in those thoughts for too long though, as the dog Pokémon signaled him to follow him all the way to the living room, where Rowlet was still sleeping on the couch, just as he had left him. Figuring that wasn't what Rockruff was barking about, he did a quick scan to the room until he finally heard the distinctive sound of his video-caller ringing.

He answered the call a bit forceful hoping to get it over with soon, but was surprised when seeing Professor Sycamore's face showing up, alongside a couple of kids and a frog-like Pokémon who Rotom immediately identified as Greninja.

"Professor Kukui, am I right?" Professor Sycamore asked with urgency. "We've been trying to reach you."

"Ne! Is Ash there with you?" The youngest of the group asked anxiously; keeping a small rodent Pokémon close to her chest in a fierce hug.

"Bonnie, don't interrupt like that!" the second kid; apparently the older brother; scowled his younger sister.

"But Clemont!"

"I know you are worried, but you need to let the professor talk."

Professor Sycamore took the opportunity to explain the reason of the call. "I was told a young trainer named Ash was staying with you."

"That's right," Kukui confirmed with a nod. "But I'm afraid he… is not here at the moment."

The hesitation in his voice didn't go unnoticed by the other researcher and he looked at the Greninja beside him before addressing Kukui again.

"Something happened, am I right?"

Kukui and Kiawe were startled by his question, starting to understand that their call right after what had happened in the forest was not a bad timed coincidence. Suspecting the group would know the answers to his own questions, Kukui nodded in confirmation.

.:oOo:.

Far on a distant land, a bipedal Pokémon watched his surroundings over the top of a mountain. He sometimes came here seeking solitude to meditate and reflect on the meaning of existence and the purposes of life. It had turned into a frequent habit of him, which made it easier for his friend to find his location.

Feeling the new presence approaching, he turned around and greeted the flying Pokémon that was descending just beside him.

"What is it, Pidgeot?" he telepathically asked with a cool and calm voice. Without missing a beat, the Pidgeot answered with alerted mannerisms. "Intruders, you say? We should head back to the island immediately."

Authoress' Note:

So we got a few things going on here. The last scene might sound like overkill but I truly need him for a specific scene I have planned! Dx

Anyway, until next chapter!